“The 9-1-1 Nashville star suffered from a rare disease, Tate’s talent agency shared with The Daily Mail on Thursday.”, — write: www.dailymail.co.uk
The 9-1-1 Nashville star, who passed away on Sunday, suffered from a rare form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, Tate’s talent agency, The McCray Agency, shared with The Daily Mail on Thursday.
CMT is a rare ‘multisystem, multiorgan disease that causes lifelong, progressive symptoms, including muscle weakness and atrophy in the arms and legs, sensory loss, and other complications,’ according to the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association.
These symptoms frequently lead to ‘challenges with balance, walking, hand use, and other daily activities.’
‘CMT is not a fatal disease’ according to Johns Hopkins, and ‘most people with it live to a normal age and remain active.’
In rare cases, however, CMT can weaken the breathing muscles, which may be especially dangerous at night and require the use of a nighttime breathing assistive device.
Isabelle ‘passed away peacefully on the 19th of October,’ Kim ‘Cookie’ McCray, the owner of the McCray Agency, shared in a statement.
‘The family requests privacy as they deal with this sudden and shocking loss. Izzy recently returned to acting and booked episode 1 of 9-1-1 Nashville which filmed in June and first aired October 6th.’
‘Information about the disease Izzy suffered from can be found here: https://cmtausa.org. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations in Izzy’s memory be made at the same site.’
Tate played Julie in the pilot episode of the Leann Rimes-led show 9-1-1 Nashville.
A cause of death has not yet been revealed.
Alan Jackson, 67, one of country music’s biggest stars, is another public figure with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
Diagnosed in 2021, he recently announced that his final concert will take place in June 2026 as he retires from performing due to the condition.
The agency earlier confirmed Tate’s passing on their Instagram earlier this week with a post containing photos of the late actress, as well as two stills of her on the show.
9-1-1 Nashville debuted on October 9 and the pilot episode saw Tate playing a woman at a bachelorette party. She receives a dance from stripper-turned-firefighter Blue (Hunter McVey) after his character notices one of the attendees acting cruelly towards Julie.
‘We are deeply saddened and completely heartbroken to share that Isabelle Tate passed away on October 19th. She was 23,’ McRay Agency revealed earlier this week.
‘I’ve known Izzy since she was a teenager and she recently returned to acting. She booked the first series she auditioned for, 9-1-1 Nashville. She had a wonderful time.’
‘Special thanks to @fincannonmark @shelbay9 for casting her and @caroline_locorriere for that wonderful encouragement and nudge back to the acting world. Also to Lora Sorrentino for making her set experience a good one.
‘My heart goes out to her wonderful mother @katerinataterealtor, her sister Daniella, family and friends. I was so lucky to know her and she will be greatly missed by so many.’
Meanwhile her co-star McVey told People he was ‘shocked’ by her death.
‘I didn’t know Isabelle prior to filming, but I couldn’t have asked for someone better to work with on one of my first-ever days on set,’ he said, adding, ‘You could tell she brought joy to a lot of people.’
An obituary for Tate describes her as someone who ‘wanted to change the world’ and was ‘full of fire.’
Tate, who received a Bachelor’s Degree in business from Middle Tennessee State University, had an affinity for volunteering with animals and loved spending time with her friends and family.
‘Isabelle was full of fire, a fighter, never once making excuses for the fact that she might have a disability relative to others. She was also quite musically inclined, often spending hours writing and recording songs with friends and even publishing a few.
‘What she loved the most though was spending time with family and friends, always the life of the party. Her sister was her best friend and her mom was her shining beacon of light.’
The obituary adds she is survived by her mother Katerina Kazakos Tate, her step father Vishnu Jayamohan, her father John Daniel Tate and sister Daniella Tate.
The obituary asked for donations on behalf of the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association, an organization supporting those suffering from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
In 2022, Tate shared a post revealing she had been diagnosed with a ‘progressive neuromuscular disease’ at age 13 and had recently accepted that she would need to use a wheelchair ‘at times’ to ‘live my life to the fullest.’
‘Please read if you have a moment…’ the post began. ‘I don’t usually get vulnerable on this app, but I feel like this is something I have to share that’s been going on in my life. When I was 13, I got diagnosed with a progressive neuromuscular disease that weakens my leg muscles over time. When I was first diagnosed, I couldn’t fully understand what it was or grasp what it could be.
‘Over the years, I was going on with my life and would notice little things get more difficult for me, but not so much where it stood out to me significantly. Recently, it’s progressed and I’ve come to terms that if I want to live my life to the fullest I need to use a wheelchair at times.
‘This has been a difficult journey for me because having to accept help and surrender to the progression of this condition has been extremely hard. While I was trying to come to terms with this, I really did find that I lost myself in certain ways. I hated that it was not only breaking me down physically, but I was allowing it to also break down my spirit.
‘I would’ve never expected something like this to happen to me, as most of us wouldn’t. I don’t know why these were in the cards I was dealt in life, but I can’t change it so I’m choosing to embrace it and not let it define me.
‘This has really changed my perspective on life, and if I’ve learned anything from this it’s to appreciate the little things that are easily taken for granted. You really never know what someone else is going through, so please always be kind and compassionate.’